After the collapse of the bridge connecting the Magdalena with the Department of La Guajira, reported in February due to the rising of the river associated with a cold front, mobility was interrupted in one of the most strategic tourist and commercial routes in the Colombian Caribbean.
The partial closure of this fundamental road for access to tourist destinations par excellence, such as Tayrona Park and Palomino, generated an immediate and severe bad effects: more than 900 hotel cancellations and significant economic losses directly hit merchants, transporters and communities whose livelihood depends on tourism and the permanent connectivity of this road axis.
In response to the emergency, and through a coordinated work conducted by INVÍAS, the UNGRD and Colombian National Army through the Military Engineers, the installation of a semi-permanent modular bridge type ACROW, in a Reinforced Double-Double configuration (DDR2), with a length of 64 meters and a load-bearing capacity of up to 52 tons, was executed.
The installation of the structure that provides safe transit of cargo and passengers represented a high-level logistical challenge. It was necessary to transport approximately 140 tons of structure in an operation of 14 vehicles that traveled more than 900 kilometers. To this they complemented critical tasks such as the demolition of the collapsed construction, the adaptation of the terrain and the construction of accesses; these tasks were executed with technical precision in the midst of the complexity of the terrain.
Military engineers restore key Caribbean route and reactivate tourist economy at Easter.
For 22 continuous days, 30 soldiers worked tirelessly to restore the connectivity of this road artery, directly benefiting more than 150,000 people including inhabitants, merchants, transporters and tourists.
The enabling of the transit takes place at a strategic moment: Easter, one of the seasons of greatest mobility in the country. Its reopening not only promotes the safe transit of passengers and cargo, but in the same way immediately promotes economic reactivation, enabling tourism, trade and transport to resume their dynamics and generate vital income for the region.
Through this work, the Military Engineers not only restore a way: they reactivate the economic activities of the Caribbean, restore confidence to the productive sectors and work to ensure that thousands of families have a livelihood in one of the most important seasons of the year.
Source: Press - National Army
